Palm to Bring Out New Treo Model in Europe

NEW YORK – Palm (PALM) on Thursday said it will market a version of its Treo smart phone in Europe through Britain's Vodafone Group. (VOD) in hopes of resolving technical problems with a previous model.

Palm said the latest Treo version will operate on Vodafone's high-speed third generation (3G) network and be powered by Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile operating system. The Treo is aimed at meeting growing demand for devices that receive email wirelessly.

The handset will be available first to Vodafone customers in multiple European countries, including the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, before the end of the calendar year.

Palm last month forecast weaker-than-expected results for the current quarter after it stopped selling its Treo 650 model in Europe because it was not compatible with a new phone technology standard used there.

At that time Palm said it was working to introduce a model in Europe to replace the Treo 650 as fast as possible.

Competition in the smart phone market is heating up as rival Motorola Inc. (MOT) started selling its Q earlier this month and Nokia (NOK) launched the E61 in April.